aBUNCEFIELDMAJOR INCIDENTINVESTIGATIONInitial Report to the Health and Safety Commission andthe Environment Agency of the investigation into theexplosions and fires at the Buncefield oil storage andtransfer depot, Hemel Hempstead, on 11 December 2005

Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board

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BUNCEFIELDMAJOR INCIDENTINVESTIGATIONInitial Report to the Health and Safety Commission andthe Environment Agency of the investigation into theexplosions and fires at the Buncefield oil storage andtransfer depot, Hemel Hempstead, on 11 December 2005

Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board

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Contents

Executive summary iv

Introduction 1

Part 1 Summary of the incident and subsequent Investigation 5t Overview of Buncefield operations 5t Timeline of key events 7t Emergency response to the Buncefield incident 10t The Investigation 11

Part 2 Issues of concern arising from the Investigation to date 18t Design and operation of storage sites 18t Emergency response to incidents 21t Advice to planning authorities 23

Annexes1 Terms of reference and progress 242 Members of the independent Board 273 Planning history of Buncefield site and neighbouring developments 284 UK petroleum refinery, pipeline and storage system 355 Incidents that have similarities with the Buncefield incident 376 Fire and explosion hazards from petrol 397 Product composition at Buncefield 448 Regulatory framework for high hazard sites 469 Regulation of Perfluorooctane Sulphonates (PFOS) 4910 Legal considerations 51

Glossary 54

Further information 58

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Executive summary

The terms of reference of the Investigation directed by the Health and SafetyCommission into the explosions and fires at the Buncefield oil storage and transferdepot, Hemel Hempstead, on 11 December 2005 require an initial report to beproduced for the Health and Safety Commission and the Environment Agencywhen the main facts of the incident have been established.

The independent Board set up to supervise the Investigation has previouslypublished three Progress Reports submitted to the Board by the InvestigationManager. The Initial Report presents the Boards view that enough of the factshave been established, as described in the Progress Reports, to set out withreasonable confidence the sequence of events leading to the incident on 11 December. This also allows the Board to identify several issues of concern forthe effective regulation of fuel storage sites such as Buncefield.

Summary of the incident and subsequent investigation

The Initial Report summarises and updates material from the Progress Reports onthe nature of operations at Buncefield, the timeline of key events, the emergencyresponse and the progress of the Investigation. Evidence shows that the mainexplosion probably resulted from the ignition of a vapour cloud emanating fromTank 912 in Bund A in the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West site, most likelyresulting from an overfill of unleaded petrol. The probable mechanism for thecreation of the vapour cloud is described, though uncertainty remains about whythe explosion was so violent.

Main findings since the publication of the Third Progress Report relate to thefunctioning of the systems used to shut down fuel delivery when a tank is full; thelikely composition of the fuel released from Tank 912; and the ongoing monitoringof the environmental impact of the incident, particularly in relation togroundwater contamination. In this last regard, the incident has now been declareda Major Accident to the Environment (MATTE). The Investigation continues.

Issues of concern arising from the Investigation to date

Though knowledge of the Buncefield incident is still incomplete, enough is knownfor the Board to draw broad conclusions about the need for action in three areas:

t Design and operation of storage sites.t Emergency response to incidents.t Advice to planning authorities.

Design and operation of storage sites

The Buncefield incident involved failures of the means provided to contain fuel andwater used in fire-fighting (known as fire-water) at three levels: primary,secondary and tertiary. The paramount need is to ensure the integrity of theprimary means of containment, ie to make sure that fuel does not escape from thevessels in which it is normally contained. Further precautions need to beconsidered to prevent this happening and, should it still occur, to inhibit theformation of a flammable vapour.

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This does not however lessen the need for effective secondary and tertiarycontainment (bunds and drains, mainly) that prevent pollutants from escaping thesite and contaminating the environment should primary containment be lost.

Emergency response to incidents

Overall, the response to the incident was very impressive. The incident hashighlighted the need to have effective emergency arrangements, both on and offsite, in the event of a major incident of this kind. Lessons from Buncefield providea very important opportunity to bring about improvements in emergencypreparedness of resilience groups throughout Britain, and further afield. There area number of reviews into the effectiveness of the emergency response to Buncefieldbeing carried out by the agencies concerned, and the Board intends to return tothis important area in the future.

Advice to planning authorities

The Buncefield incident poses fundamental questions about residential andcommercial developments around sites like Buncefield. Continuing uncertainty inthis area creates serious problems for local communities, particularly those directlyaffected by the Buncefield incident. This is a complex issue requiring a balance tobe made between the risks and benefits of development. The Board intends toaddress these issues in detail once the preliminary conclusions of HSEs currentreview of its advice to planning authorities are known.

A measured approach is justified since the likelihood of a similar explosionremains low, and should be made lower still by a programme of actions designedto increase the reliability of primary containment. In our view, the importance ofreaching conclusions that are considered, costed and sustainable greatly outweighsany benefit that might be derived from coming to summary judgements.

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Introduction

1 This report is the initial report required by the terms of reference of theInvestigation into the explosions and fires at the Buncefield oil storage and transferdepot, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire on 11 December 2005.1 The Investigationwas directed by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) using its powers undersection 14(2)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

2 The Investigation is being carried out jointly by the Health and SafetyExecutive (HSE) and the Environment Agency. HSC appointed an independentInvestigation Board, chaired by Lord Newton of Braintree, to supervise thisinvestigation.2 This report has been prepared by the Investigation Board, based oninformation arising from the continuing HSE/Environment Agency Investigation.Throughout the Investigation, the Board has been supplied with Progress Reportsfrom the Investigation Manager, Taf Powell, which the Board has published.3

3 This report does not repeat all the material contained in the Progress Reports,which should be read for a fuller understanding of the Investigation up to May2006. Part 1 summarises, and updates where necessary, key points of theInvestigation for completeness and to aid in understanding the InvestigationBoards initial conclusions set out in Part 2. The Board has included significantnew findings from the Investigation that have emerged since the publication of theThird Progress Report on 9 May. Other new material is contained in the annexesto this report.

4 The Investigation terms of reference require an initial report to be submitted toHSC and the Environment Agency as soon as the main facts of the incident havebeen established. The Investigation is still continuing. Nevertheless, theInvestigation Board considers that, with publication of the Third Progress Reportin May, enough facts have been established to set out with reasonable confidencethe sequence of events leading to the incident on 11 December. In particular,enough is known for the Board to be able to identify several issues of concern forthe effective regulation of fuel storage sites such as Buncefield. As well as the mainfacts of the incident, the Board has included in Part 2 of this report its emergingthoughts about future action to address these issues of concern.

5 The Investigation Board plans to give further consideration to these issues.

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1 The full terms of reference are reproduced in Annex 1. Term of reference 6 requires aninitial report.

2 The Members of the Investigation Board are listed in Annex 2.3 Details of the three published Progress Reports are contained in Further information.

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Part 1 - Summary of theincident and subsequentinvestigation

6 This section summarises information contained in the three Progress Reports tothe Board published between February and May 2006. Full details can be found inthe reports, which are available on the Investigation website.4 Where necessary,this information has been updated in this report and supplemented by new findingsfrom the Investigation. Other new information is contained in the annexes,referenced as appropriate in the text below.

Overview of Buncefield operations

7 The Buncefield oil storage and transfer depot is a large tank farm occupied bythree companies. These are: Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited, a joint venturebetween Total UK Limited and Chevron Limited; United Kingdom Oil PipelinesLimited and West London Pipeline and Storage Limited, whose site is operated byBritish Pipeline Agency Limited; and British Petroleum Oil UK Limited.5 Each siteis classified as a top-tier site under the Control of Major Accident Hazards(COMAH) Regulations 1999.6

8 Figure 1 shows the layout of the Buncefield depot and its surroundings. TheBuncefield depot forms part of a national petroleum refinery, pipeline and storagesystem, described in Annex 4. Fuel products were supplied to Buncefield by threepipeline systems:

t 10 pipeline (FinaLine) from Lindsey Oil Refinery on Humberside, terminatingin the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West site;

t 10 pipeline from Merseyside to Buncefield (M/B pipeline), terminating in theBritish Pipeline Agency Limited-operated Cherry Tree Farm site;

t 14 pipeline from Thames (Coryton) to Kingsbury, Warwickshire, with a spurline to Buncefield (T/K pipeline), terminating in the British Pipeline AgencyLimited-operated main site.

9 The three pipelines all transported fuel products in discrete batches, separatedby an interface or buffer of mixed product. At the terminal, the operatorsmonitored the arrival of the various grades of fuel and separated them out intodedicated tanks by fuel type. The interface of mixed fuel was diverted to specialsmall tanks to be reinjected into the main large storage tanks, if the fuelspecification allowed, or transported back to the refinery as slops for re-refining.

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4 Details of the three published Progress Reports are contained in Annex 12. Thesereports have not been revised to take account of more recent findings.

5 Texaco Limited became Chevron Limited on 3 July 2006.6 The regulatory framework for high hazard sites, including the main requirements of

COMAH, is summarised in Annex 8.

Boundary Way

BoundaryWay

Fujibuilding

Northgatebuilding

loadinggantry

BuncefieldLane

Lagoon Pumphouse

Bund A

Lagoons

Tank 12

Cherry Tree Lane

Three CherryTrees Lane

CatherineHouse

Nursery

915

913914

12

6

5

4

7 301 302

303 304

8

911

912

910

0 100 m 200 m

NBund B

3-Combuilding

Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (west)

Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (east)

Shell UK Oil Ltduntil April 2003.Consent remains

British Petroleum Oil UK Ltd

British PipelineAgency (south)

British PipelineAgency (north)

Figure 1 Pre-incident layout of Buncefielddepot and immediate surroundings

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10 The separated products left the depot either by road tanker or, in the case of themajority of aviation fuel, via two dedicated pipelines from the British PipelineAgency Limited main site into the West London Pipeline system, which suppliesHeathrow and Gatwick Airports. Tankers operating from Buncefield were of 44 or18 tonnes capacity and were increasingly operated by specialised transport operators.

Timeline of key events

10 December 2005t Around 19.00, Tank 912 in Bund A at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited

West site started receiving unleaded motor fuel from the T/K pipeline, pumpingat about 550 m3/hour (flow rates are variable within limits).

11 December 2005t At approximately midnight (00.00) the terminal was closed to tankers and a

stock check of products was carried out. When this was completed at around01.30, no abnormalities were reported. From approximately 03.00, the levelgauge for Tank 912 recorded an unchanged reading. However, filling of Tank912 continued at a rate of around 550 m3/hour.

t Calculations show that at around 05.20 Tank 912 would have been completelyfull and starting to overflow. Evidence suggests that the protection systemwhich should have shut off the supply of petrol to the tank to prevent overfilling did not operate. From this time onwards, continued pumping causedfuel to cascade down the side of the tank and through the air, leading to therapid formation of a rich fuel/air mixture that collected in Bund A.

t At 05.38 vapour from the escaping fuel is first visible in CCTV footage from acamera looking down the western edge of Bund A, flowing out of the north-west corner of Bund A towards the west.7

t At 05.46 the vapour cloud had thickened to a depth of about 2 m and wasflowing out of Bund A in all directions.

t By 05.50 the vapour cloud had started flowing off site near the junction of CherryTree Lane and Buncefield Lane, following the ground topography. It spread westinto Northgate House and Fuji car parks and towards Catherine House.

t Between 05.50 and 06.00 the pumping rate down the T/K pipeline toHertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West, and onwards to Tank 912, graduallyrose to around 890 m3/hour.

t By 06.01 the vapour cloud extended to the west almost as far as Boundary Wayin the gaps between the 3-Com, Northgate and Fuji buildings; to the north-west itextended as far as the nearest corner of Catherine House. It probably extended tothe north of the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited site as far as Tank 12, operatedby British Pipelines Agency Limited, and probably extended south across part ofthe Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited site, but not as far as the tanker fillinggantry. To the east it reached the British Pipeline Agency Limited site.

t At 06.01 the first explosion occurred, followed by further explosions and alarge fire that engulfed over 20 large storage tanks. The main explosion eventappears to have been centred on the car parks between the Hertfordshire OilStorage Limited West site and the Fuji and Northgate buildings.

77 Timings deduced from CCTV footage have been corrected for any inaccurate setting of

the CCTV timers.

t At 06.08 an emergency services major incident was declared and operationalcommand and control was set up near the incident site within minutes.

t At 09.00 Strategic Co-ordinating Group (Gold command) convened for thefirst time.

t An extensive plume of smoke from the burning fuel dispersed over southernEngland and beyond.8 The plume could be seen from many kilometres away,and was also clearly identified in satellite images.

12 December 2005t Noon. Peak of the fire. 25 Hertfordshire pumps were on site with 20 support

vehicles and 180 fire-fighters.

t There was some loss of secondary containment, as the bunds were unable tofully contain the escaped fuel and water used in fire-fighting (known as fire-water), which overtopped (ie spilled over the top of) the bund walls.

14 December 2005t HSE assumed control of the Investigation from Hertfordshire Constabulary.

t Damage to bunds caused by the intense heat of the fire caused significant lossof secondary containment on the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West andBritish Pipeline Agency Limited sites. There was also extensive loss of tertiarycontainment at the site boundaries and large amounts of contaminated liquidsescaped off site. The fire service recovered as much of the contaminated run offas possible, but was unable to prevent contamination of groundwater andsurface water.

15 December 2005t Fire all out declared by the Fire Service.

t 786 000 litres of foam concentrate and 68 million litres of water (53 millionclean and 15 million recycled) were used overall to contain the incidentduring the period of fire-fighting operations.

t Strategic Co-ordinating Group (Gold command) convened for the last time.

16 December 2005t The on-site investigation started (the preliminary planning and information

gathering had commenced earlier). HSE issued notices to secure the site, toensure both that evidence was left undisturbed and that clean up operationswere conducted safely. Key parts of the site remained too dangerous forinvestigators to access for weeks or months.

18 December 2005t Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited started surveying roads and buildings on the

site.

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8 Monitoring by the Meteorological Office showed that the visible plume was mainlyblack carbon (soot). Full details of the plume and related air quality monitoringarrangements are given in the Department for the Environment, Food and RuralAffairs Initial review of the air quality aspects of the Buncefield oil depot explosion,available at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/buncefield/index.htm.

20 December 2005t HSC formally directed HSE and the Environment Agency to investigate the

incident and to make a special report. HSE appointed Taf Powell, Director ofHSEs Offshore Division, to be the Investigation Manager. HSC alsoannounced the appointment of an independent Board to supervise theInvestigation.

t The control room on the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West site wassufficiently structurally sound to allow entry for gathering records and otherevidence.

23 December 2005t The Investigation team, with assistance from Hertfordshire Constabulary and

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, recovered computers from damagedoffices and placed them in safe storage.

5 January 2006t Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service handed control of the site over to the

Investigation team. Hertfordshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Fire andRescue Service continued to give invaluable support to the Investigation teamthat was working to gather and secure evidence.

12 January 2006t HSC appointed Lord Newton of Braintree to chair the independent Board.

February 2006t All fire-water had been removed from site and stored, pending safe disposal.

The area around the loading gantry had been made safe for access and tankers,which were present at the time of the incident, were removed.

t Investigating personnel gained access to Bund A for the first time.

t Internal roadways were cleared and limited work started on removing debrisfrom Bund A. Sampling of fuel in pipework was carried out prior to safedisposal. As fuel residues still remained in interconnecting pipework anddamaged tanks, monitoring for flammable vapour was routinely carried out.

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Emergency response to the Buncefield incident

11 The co-ordination and management framework at any incident identifies threelevels of interlinked leadership and co-ordination.9 They are:

t Strategic - Gold

t Tactical - Silver

t Operational - Bronze

12 The emergency services (primarily the Fire and Rescue Service and the police)led the initial response to the incident and its immediate aftermath. Representationof all agencies deployed to resolve the Buncefield incident was established througha meeting process known as the Strategic Co-ordinating Group, also known asGold command. This included the Environment Agency as a Category 1 responderunder the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.10 The Strategic Co-ordinating Groupmade decisions to ensure that the implementation of strategic aims was deliveredby the tactical (Silver) and operational (Bronze) commands.

13 The Strategic Co-ordinating Group had its first multi-agency meeting at 09.00on 11 December at Hertfordshire Police Headquarters, chaired by the PoliceStrategic Co-ordinating Group Commander. A decision was made at this meetingto evacuate those with damaged homes and workplaces, and to tell everyone in theimmediate vicinity to shelter go in, stay in, tune in.

14 The Strategic Co-ordinating Group remained in place until 18:30 on Thursday15 December.

Disposal of fire-water

15 The contaminated fire-water was removed from the site during the first threeweeks following the fire, although an unknown quantity contaminated the surfacewaters and groundwater. Following the event, further contaminated water resultingfrom rainfall or cleaning operations was removed from the site by tanker andstored along with the fire-water in a number of locations around the country.

16 The fire-water remains in temporary storage, and it is important for this matterto be resolved. The Board understands that the decontamination of fire-water onsuch an unprecedented scale may require the use of several processes to render thewater suitable for its return to the environment. The oil companies are developingoptions to achieve this, which will be assessed by the Environment Agency toensure that they have the minimum impact possible on the environment.

17 On 21 June 2006, the Environment Agency was informed that some 800 000litres of this contaminated water had been released inadvertently from storage intoa sewage treatment plant and thereafter into the River Colne, a tributary of theRiver Thames. The Environment Agency launched an investigation with theassistance of Thames Water Utilities Limited, who operate the storage facility andassociated sewage treatment works. This investigation has yet to be concluded.

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9 UK Resilience. Management and co-ordination of local operations, available atwww.ukresilience.info/ccact/errpdfs/err_chap_04.pdf.

10 Other Category 1 responders included the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and theStrategic Health Authority. The Environment Agencys role was to minimise the risks ofenvironmental damage. HSE is a Category 2 responder, so during the early phase of theincident stood ready to provide advice and expertise on request.

The Investigation

18 Progress Reports 1-3 detail four key aspects of the Investigation, brieflysummarised below:

t Loss of fuel containment.t Formation of the vapour cloud.t The explosions.t Environmental monitoring.

Loss of fuel containment

19 The first Progress Report indicated that the explosion probably resulted fromignition of a vapour cloud emanating from the vicinity of Bund A in theHertfordshire Oil Storage Limited West site. The Investigation Manager wassufficiently confident in the investigation findings to state in the Third ProgressReport that the initial loss of containment which created the vapour cloud occurredfrom Tank 912 in Bund A, most likely resulting from an overfill of unleaded petrol.

20 To understand how the fuel escaped, the Investigation examined how Tank 912and its instrumentation and control systems functioned at the time. Thisexamination suggested further lines of inquiry, involving aspects of the automatictank gauging system, and the high-level alarm system. Investigators wanted toascertain how the gauging system performed and why automatic shutdown ofdelivery did not take place as intended when the tanks ultimate high level (ie thespecified maximum capacity) was reached.

21 The Third Progress Report detailed findings about instrumentation and controlsystems on Tank 912. These include the product monitoring systems both for level andtemperature, and the ultimate high-level switch, which was part of the system to preventoverfilling of the tank. As the Third Progress Report explained, from about three hoursbefore the incident, the level gauge remained static, although the tank continued to fill.

22 The ultimate high-level switch should, if triggered, cause an alarm to soundand shut down the supply of fuel to the tank. Since publication of the ThirdProgress Report, most of the ultimate high-level switch from Tank 912 has beenrecovered, along with other parts of the instrumentation systems on this and othertanks, for examination.

23 Further investigation into the design of the ultimate high-level switch indicatedthat the position of a test lever or plate fitted to the switch is critical to ensurecontinued effective operation. While the relevance of this feature to the Buncefieldincident has still to be determined, one of the issues that has arisen from theseenquiries relates to the reliance on this type of switch at many similar installationsthroughout the UK and worldwide.

24 The Competent Authority has taken action to bring this issue to the urgentattention of operators of similar sites in the UK through a Safety Alert.11 The Alertapplies to a particular kind of switch used in ultimate high-level alarm systems.Improvement Notices have also been issued, requiring the suppliers to contact users orinstallers of these switches to alert them to this issue and provide revised instructionsand labelling on the safe use, setting, cleaning and maintenance of the switches. TheBoard notes the continuing co-operation of the suppliers in that process.

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11 Sites like Buncefield are regulated by a Competent Authority, as detailed in Annex 8.The full text of the Safety Alert can be found on HSEs website atwww.hse.gov.uk/comah/alerts/sa0106.htm.

Formation of the vapour cloud

25 The Third Progress Report described extensive tests undertaken to model thebehaviour of fuel escaping from Tank 912 during overfilling. Tank 912 was fittedwith a deflector plate, installed to direct water from sprinklers on the tanks top toits sides to provide cooling in the event of fire. The tests demonstrated that thedeflector plate channelled some of the escaped fuel onto the tank wall, but the restran over the top of the plate, fragmenting into droplets that cascaded through theair. Most of the fuel running down the wall hit a wind girder (a structural stiffeningring) and detached from the tank wall, creating a second cascade of droplets.

26 These conditions would promote the evaporation of the lighter components ofpetrol, eg butanes, pentanes and hexanes. The free-fall of droplets leads toentrainment of air and mixing between the air and fuel vapour, and the formationof a rich fuel/air mixture. Cooling of the surrounding air, already saturated withwater vapour by the evaporation, would cause some of the water content toprecipitate as an ice mist, which is consistent with the cloud of mist visible on

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Fuel spills over deflector plate ullage ventilation hole

Fuel is diverted toward the tank wall by deflector plate

Droplet fragmentation enhancedby intersection of liquid

and vapour sprays

Air loaded with fuel vapour driven rapidly downward by liquid spray

Fuel

cool

sas

itfa

lls

bund wall

Increased surface area allowsvolatile fractions to evaporate

and vapour gathers in bund

Liquid fuel gathers in bund

Figure 2 The pattern offuel dispersion (for

illustration only) Not to scale

CCTV. The fuel/air mixture and its accompanying ice mist were heavier than airand so were initially contained within the bund. As the volume of the mixturegrew from the continuing overfilling of the tank, it flowed out of the bund,dispersing and flowing off site. Further mixing with the air would have reduced thevapour concentration to the point where significant volumes of the mixture couldsupport an explosion.12

27 Since publication of the Third Progress Report, further work to simulate theoverflow of liquid from the full height of Tank 912 has confirmed the pattern offuel dispersal and vaporisation shown in Figure 2.

The explosions

28 The Third Progress Report described a number of potential ignition sources ofthe main explosion that occurred at 06.01 on 11 December. The prime candidateappears to be an explosion within the emergency generator cabin on the south sideof the Northgate building; this is consistent with the site of the main explosionevent. However, further study of the CCTV evidence shows a sudden illuminationof the east face of the Fuji building, consistent with an explosion or a flash fire atthe location of the pumphouse to the east of the lagoon on the Hertfordshire OilStorage Limited West site. This illumination was recorded by a camera before itwas destroyed by the overpressure, suggesting that this explosion or flash fireoccurred before the main explosion at 06.01. The pumphouse is the subject ofcontinuing forensic investigation.

29 Much uncertainty remains about why the explosion was so violent, generatingoverpressures of a magnitude much greater than current understanding of vapourcloud explosions would predict. For example, a method in current use wouldpredict overpressures of 20-50 millibar (mbar) in the open areas of the Northgateand Fuji car parks. The current best estimates of the overpressures that actuallyoccurred in these areas are of 700-1000 mbar, leading to extensive damage toadjacent buildings. Annex 6 describes the mechanics of fire and explosion hazardsfrom fuels such as petrol, as currently understood.

30 Continuing work relevant to gaining a better understanding of the explosionhas included extensive sampling to identify the composition of the released fuels, aswell as to verify the product distribution throughout the depot. It shows that thereleased fuel probably had a butane content of 10% and consequently would havehad a high vapour pressure, ie it would be capable of evaporating rapidly toproduce a flammable vapour. The total butane content is specified in the standard,and depends on whether the product is winter or summer grade. For winter gradepetrol the vapour pressure limits are defined as 70-100 kiloPascals (kPa) and forsummer they are reduced to 45-70 kPa. See Annex 7 for further information aboutstandards and fuel composition.

31 Further research is needed to try to discover the actual mechanism forgenerating the unexpectedly high overpressures seen at Buncefield. The Boardrefers to this again in paragraph 76, and in relation to terms of reference 1 and 5in Annex 1.

32 The number and severity of injuries at Buncefield was low compared to someother major incidents involving explosions, and there were no fatalities. Annex 6provides more information about explosion overpressures, and includes tableswhich show the levels of damage or injury that would normally be expected toresult from different overpressures.

1312 The explosive properties of petrol, including the significance of vapour concentrations,

are explained in Annex 6.

Environmental monitoring

Air quality

33 An initial report on the results of the air quality monitoring and the impact ofthe plume on human health and vegetation was published by the Department forthe Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in May 2006.13 Overall, thereport concluded there are unlikely to have been widespread air quality impacts atground level due to pollutants emitted from the Buncefield fires. It went on to saythat overall it was concluded that the fire at Buncefield Oil Depot did not result insubstantial pollution of soil and grasses and that pollutant levels were, in general,unexceptional and typical of UK urban environments.

34 The prevailing meteorological conditions at the time of the incident and thehigh buoyancy of the smoke plume from the fire resulted in most of the plumematerial reaching a high altitude in the atmosphere. It then dispersed over a widearea with minimal mixing down to ground level.

Land investigations

35 Trial pits were excavated starting in February on and surrounding the site toassess the impact on land. The initial findings indicate that the surface layer iscontaminated with fuel and fire-fighting products.

36 The extent and degree of the contamination of the land within the Buncefielddepot is continuing to be established. Many trial pits have been excavated toinvestigate the soil beneath the concrete hardstanding and under the bases of thebunds. All of this information will inform the continuing Investigation and allowthe Environment Agency to assess the oil companies proposed remediation of thecontamination when that is formally submitted to the Competent Authority.

Surface water and groundwater monitoring

37 Extensive surface water monitoring immediately following the incident wascarried out at a number of locations, as detailed in the Second Progress Report.Monitoring will continue for the foreseeable future at these locations to determineany long-term effects on the aquatic environment.

38 The Environment Agency started to monitor the groundwater under andaround the Buncefield site soon after the incident. This monitoring has shown thatthere is contamination of the groundwater by fire-fighting products, fuels, andfuel-related products. This has been reported in the previous Progress Reports andon the Environment Agency website.

39 Following the detection of contamination, the Environment Agency reviewedthe sampling locations for the existing groundwater monitoring network (details ofwhich were reported in the Second Progress Report) and concluded that furthermonitoring boreholes were required at specified locations. Some of the newboreholes are already installed.

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13 This report presents and summarises the air quality measurements made during theBuncefield incident, and includes results obtained from targeted local monitoring,measurements from long-term monitoring networks, the modelling undertaken by theMeteorological Office, and emissions estimates of the pollutants from the fire. See Further information for further details.

40 The new monitoring boreholes will ensure that the extent of pollution isunderstood. Also, the increased groundwater monitoring network will improve theunderstanding of flow and contaminant transport within the chalk aquifer.

41 In addition to the extensive sampling that is currently underway, the EnvironmentAgency is developing a groundwater conceptual model to assist in understanding themovement of pollutants within the groundwater and aquifer so that it may assess thelikely extent of contamination. This model is a conceptual representation of theenvironment (in this case an aquifer) and the interactions within it.

42 All of the above will aid the assessment of the impact of the contamination onthe environment and to human health. It will also assist in determining the bestsolutions for the clean up of the groundwater and the aquifer.

Perfluorooctane sulphonates (PFOS)

43 Perfluorooctane sulphonates are a group of chemicals, collectively identifiedas PFOS, which have been shown to be hazardous (persistent, bioaccumulativeand toxic). PFOS chemicals have been used in a diverse range of applications,including as an additive to aid the spreading properties of fire-fighting foam.PFOS does not appear to degrade in the natural environment. Due to thisstability, it has now become widespread both in humans and in the environment.Annex 9 describes the environmental hazards presented by PFOS and the currentapproach to its regulation.

44 PFOS was not routinely monitored and analysed in any surface water orgroundwater in the UK prior to the Buncefield incident. Sampling and analysis forPFOS are not straightforward and until very recently there has been no recognisedrecommended limit for PFOS levels in groundwater or drinking water againstwhich to assess any results.

45 PFOS was present in some of the foam used to combat the Buncefield fire. Atthe start of the Buncefield incident, PFOS in the fire-water was recognised as animportant potential contaminant for land, surface water and groundwater. TheEnvironment Agency and others have sampled groundwater and surface waterextensively for PFOS and other contaminants both on and off site from soon afterthe explosion. The Board notes that it is the responsibility of the local watercompany to monitor the quality of drinking water (as opposed to groundwater andrivers), and that the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates the activities ofwater companies in relation to drinking water quality.

Results of monitoring

46 PFOS was detected in the Rivers Ver and Colne in the days immediatelyfollowing the incident, however, these levels dropped below the lowest thresholddetectable by the Environment Agency after a short period. Ongoing testing stillshows sporadic detection of PFOS in the rivers. No direct impact has been detectedeither at the time or in the intervening months on fish or other aquatic species inthese waters. Only long-term monitoring will identify if there has been a lastingenvironmental consequence of the presence of PFOS and its associated fluorinatedcompounds.

47 Results to date (six months since the incident) of groundwater monitoring haveshown the presence of fuels, fuel-related products and residues from the fire-fighting foams in groundwater at a number of locations, but they are mostprevalent under and close to the site.

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48 Although PFOS above the level of three microgrammes per litre (which is theadvisory level set by the DWI for PFOS in drinking water) has been detected inenvironmental monitoring samples, these levels have not been detected in samplesof drinking water.

49 It could be many months before the full extent of the contamination of thegroundwater is known. The Environment Agency is working with DWI and thelocal water supply companies to ensure that they are fully aware of samplingresults, and are able to act appropriately to safeguard public water supplies.

Further monitoring

50 In view of the apparent widespread occurrence of trace quantities of PFOSaround the Hemel Hempstead area, some apparently unconnected with Buncefield,the Environment Agency is conducting a targeted national groundwater samplingexercise to investigate the wider prevalence of PFOS and related compounds ingroundwater.

51 The initial monitoring programme is being carried out in the period April toJuly 2006. Groundwater is being sampled at selected sites on the EnvironmentAgencys national groundwater monitoring network. A range of sites have beenselected in rural, urban and industrial areas. Some sites are where fire-fightingfoams may have been used, eg fire stations, airbases etc, while others are wheresuch use is not suspected. Approximately 150 sites will be sampled as a part of thisprogramme.

52 If perfluorosurfactant compounds are detected in groundwater, repeat samplingwill be carried out to verify the initial results and to investigate persistence. Ifwidespread detection occurs, the programme will be extended beyond July and, ifnecessary, selected compounds added to the routine monitoring programme. Asimilar sampling exercise is planned for surface waters to take place over theperiod July to December 2006.

Notification to the European Commission

53 The Competent Authority (at Buncefield, jointly HSE and the EnvironmentAgency) is required under regulation 21(1) and (2) of the COMAH Regulations toinform the European Commission of any major occurrence on a COMAH site.HSE, on behalf of the Competent Authority, issued a short report on 10 March2006 for inclusion on the Major Accident Reporting System. As furtherinformation of international significance becomes known, the CompetentAuthority will also pass this on to the European Commission and hence theinternational community.

54 DEFRA has established threshold criteria defining a Major Accident To TheEnvironment (MATTE), based on Schedule 7 (part 1) of the COMAH Regulations.The Environment Agency, using these criteria, has determined that the Buncefieldincident is a MATTE, and the Competent Authority has recently reported this tothe European Commission. This determination is based on the results ofEnvironment Agency monitoring of groundwater beneath and in the vicinity of theBuncefield site, which has been shown to be contaminated with fuels and fire-fighting foam by-products. This area of contamination is deemed to extend overthe one hectare threshold described in the Regulations. The reporting of thisMATTE to the European Commission has no impact on the continued monitoringand remediation programme that is already taking place.

16

The continuing Investigation

55 Work continues on the Investigation to ensure that all reasonable lines ofenquiry are followed. Evidence continues to be gathered from different sources.The emerging information contributes to a greater understanding of the underlyingroot causes, and will allow the Investigation team to refine its enquiries further andto bring into focus elements such as wider management systems and organisationalfactors.

56 Almost all the plant and equipment required for forensic examination has beenrecovered from the Buncefield site, which will allow the operators to demolishbuildings, tanks and bunds. However, further investigation work will be carriedout on the integrity of the floors of the bunds together with environmentalmonitoring of the ground underneath, in particular where tanks were located.

57 The Investigation has also considered previous incidents which may havesimilarities to the events at Buncefield. These are summarised in Annex 5. Work isin hand to identify other incidents that may be relevant.

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Part 2 - Issues of concernarising from the Investigationto date

58 Knowledge of the Buncefield incident is still incomplete, but enough is knownto draw some broad conclusions about actions which might be taken to improvehealth, safety and environmental protection at or near oil storage sites, includingareas where further work is needed. The Board does not intend to make anycomment at this stage on possible legal proceedings. The initial observations setout here concern broader issues. The Board will continue to ensure thatinformation is made publicly available, either through its own reports or via theCompetent Authority, where it is necessary to ensure continued safety, while alsoattempting to preserve the integrity of any future criminal proceedings that mightbe brought by the relevant enforcing authorities.

59 The Boards observations and conclusions at this stage fall into three areas,which are considered further below:

t Design and operation of storage sites.t Emergency response to incidents.t Advice to planning authorities.

60 We believe these, together with our examination of HSEs and the EnvironmentAgencys roles in regulating the activities on the Buncefield site, will form thebroad scope of our further work.

Design and operation of storage sites

61 The Buncefield incident involved failures of primary, secondary and tertiarymeans to contain fuel and associated fire-waters.

t Primary means are the tanks, pipes and vessels that hold liquids, and thedevices fitted to them to allow them to be safely operated.

t Secondary means are enclosed areas around storage vessels (often calledbunds), created usually by concrete or earth walls. Their purpose is to holdany escaping liquids and any water or chemicals used in fire-fighting.

t Tertiary means are things such as drains designed to limit the passage ofchemicals off site, raised kerbs to prevent liquids that have breached thebunds from escaping into the general area around the site, etc.

62 The Board has already seen sufficient information from the Investigation to beable to express an obvious, but nonetheless important opinion that safety, healthand environmental protection are of paramount importance at sites like Buncefield.We would expect this point to be uppermost in the mind of the industry-chairedtask group recently convened by HSE to pursue improvements to safety andenvironmental protection at fuel depots.

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63 The occurrence of a massive fuel vapour explosion confirms the overridingneed to ensure the integrity of the primary means of containment; in other words,to make sure that liquid does not escape from the vessels in which it is normallymeant to be confined.

64 Safety and planning assumptions at fuel depots like Buncefield have until nowbeen based upon fires in pools of escaped liquid, held in check by bunds while theemergency services establish control. The formation of a huge vapour cloud fromtank storage was not considered a sufficiently credible scenario for land useplanning purposes.14 One particular lesson from the Buncefield incident istherefore that such a cloud can form while a highly flammable liquid such asunleaded petrol is escaping from primary containment in a storage tank, andwhere the path of escape involves cascading, fragmenting and dispersing theliquid from height (eg from the vents in the top of a tank that is being overfilled).

65 The Investigation has demonstrated that overtopping a tank with highlyflammable fuel is more likely to produce a potentially explosive mixture thanpooling from a lower level escape, such as may result from a tank failure. TheInvestigation has also shown that the design of the tank itself may havecontributed to the vapour formation at Buncefield. This suggests that design andconstruction of tanks and pipework that could be favourable to the formation offlammable vapours should be discouraged.

66 Secondary and tertiary means of containment are vital for environmentalprotection. However, the secondary containment provided by bunds aroundtanks is of lesser value where there is rapid formation of vapour that will fairlyquickly overflow the bund wall. Tertiary containment also has little effect againsta cloud of vapour, as it is intended to intercept and hold liquid flowing along theground. It is the Boards view that the ineffectiveness of customary means ofsecondary and tertiary containment against migration of large volumes of vapourre-emphasises that the most urgent focus of attention should be on preventingloss of primary containment and, should that occur, inhibiting rapid large-scalevaporisation and any subsequent dangerous migration of a flammable vapour.

67 The Investigation also revealed that the fire pumphouse that provided the meansto distribute cooling water for the whole Buncefield site was immediately adjacent to,and downhill from, Bund A. As described in paragraph 28, recent CCTV analysishas identified this pumphouse as a likely source of one of the early ignitions of theflammable vapour. The loss of the pumphouse, probably from an internal explosionof vapour that had entered from the surrounding cloud, immediately renderedinoperative the fire-fighting provisions for the site. It is foreseeable that flammablevapour in an enclosure could, if ignited, cause damage within that enclosure. Therisk of flammable vapour reaching fire pumps increases the closer the pumps are totanks containing volatile flammable liquids. The industry-chaired task group maywant to review whether current guidance related to the siting and/or means ofprotection of emergency response facilities is suitable at sites such as Buncefield.

68 Following publication of the Investigation Managers first Progress Report inFebruary 2006, the Competent Authority (HSE with the Environment Agency in Englandand Wales, and with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in Scotland) began aprogramme of site inspections to ensure operators reviewed key design and operationalaspects of their sites, a process supported by the findings of subsequent Progress Reports.

19

14 At Buncefield, the formation of a flammable vapour cloud at the tanker loading gantry,as opposed to the tank storage areas, was considered by the Competent Authority andsite operators, but the level of off-site hazard this would pose was judged to be lowerthan a large pool fire originating from the tank storage area.

69 The preliminary findings of the Competent Authority programme werepublished on 13 June 2006.15 As a result of the programme, three ImprovementNotices have been served. The Board welcomes this initiative and looks forward tothe publication of the detailed findings of the Competent Authority programme ofinspection this autumn. The Board notes the industrys efforts in working with theCompetent Authority to review the findings from both the Investigation and theSafety Alert review, and to make recommendations to the joint industry/regulatortask group regarding action needed to improve risk control. In particular, theBoard notes that part of this work will be to review and revise published guidanceon handling flammable liquids at storage sites by mid-2007, and expects this workto be pursued with vigour.

70 That guidance should be the culmination and record of a substantial effort bythe industry, working with the regulators, and begun at once, to develop andimplement better methods for handling flammable liquids at storage sites,particularly where volatile fuels are handled, with the principal aim of safelyconfining them in the vessels intended for that purpose. By methods the Boardmeans the plant, equipment, management systems, operational procedures andworking practices provided to achieve safe operation and the ongoing verificationby operators, supported by the Competent Authority, that all these control measuresare effective.

71 In summary, the Investigation has revealed a number of matters concerning thedesign and operation of sites such as Buncefield where improvements tomaintaining primary containment must be considered by the industry, workingclosely with the Competent Authority. These matters include:

t the electronic monitoring of tanks and pipework, and associated alarms thatwarn of abnormal conditions;

t the detection of flammable vapours in the immediate vicinity of tanks andpipework;

t the response to the detection of abnormal conditions, such as automaticclosure of tank inlet valves and incoming pipeline valves;

t the extent to which the exterior construction of tanks (eg tank top design)inhibits, or contributes to, flammable vapour formation;

t the siting and/or means of protection of emergency response facilities; and

t the recording of monitoring, detection and alarm systems and their availability(eg off site) for periodic review of the effectiveness of the control measures bythe operator and the Competent Authority, as well as in root cause analysisshould there be an incident.

72 Where a need for additional systems is identified, HSC and the CompetentAuthority should satisfy themselves that current legal requirements are robustenough, and supported with sufficient resources, to ensure that these systems areprovided and maintained at every fuel storage site where the risks require them,without relying upon voluntary compliance. It has not been established whetherchanges in the law or in the resources available to the Competent Authority arerequired to achieve this end. The Board is, however, clear that the severity of theBuncefield incident makes a compelling case for any such changes to be made as amatter of very high legislative priority, should the need be identified.

20 15 The full report is available on HSEs website at www.hse.gov.uk/comah.

73 As well as ensuring the effectiveness of primary containment, the industry,working with the Competent Authority, should embark on a review of thepurpose, specifications, capacity, construction and maintenance of secondary andtertiary containment, and in particular the bunds around tanks. This work shouldlead to revised guidance, either as part of that referred to in paragraphs 69 and 70,or produced separately but on at least as rapid a timescale. Again, the necessarystandards should be capable of being insisted upon by law.

74 The Board is clear that it will wish to offer further advice when theInvestigation is further advanced. This might deal with, for instance, the humanand organisational factors that contribute to the safe operation of a major hazardsite such as a fuel storage depot. Such factors include, for example, joborganisation, management of organisational change, monitoring and supervision,training and control room layout.

75 In the longer term, it may prove necessary to consider additional standards forthe overall layout of storage sites.

76 The system for delivering fuel safely around the country depends on goodcommunications between those responsible for delivery and those responsible forreceiving the delivered batches, to ensure site receiving fuel are able to acceptdeliveries safely. The adequacy of existing safety arrangements, includingcommunications, may also need to be reviewed. The Board expects to return tothese and other matters in due course.

77 Further work is needed to research the actual mechanism for generating theunexpectedly high explosion overpressures seen at Buncefield. This is a matter ofkeen international interest, and participation from a broad range of experts, aswell as the industry, is essential to ensure the transparency and credibility of anyresearch programme. The Board will consider further recommendations about thenature and scope of such work.

Emergency response to incidents

78 Improving the arrangements to prevent fires and explosions in no way lessensthe need to have effective emergency arrangements in the event of an incident. Thiscovers both planning for emergencies and the effectiveness of the response.Operators of top-tier COMAH sites are required by law to prepare adequateemergency plans to deal with the on-site consequences of possible incidents, andthey must also provide local authorities with information to enable them toprepare emergency plans to deal with the off-site consequences. The adequacy ofthese plans depends, among other things, on a full appreciation of the potential formajor accidents. In the light of the emerging findings:

t Operators of oil storage depots should review their on-site emergency plansand the adequacy of information they supply to local authorities to ensure zthey take full account of the potential for a vapour cloud explosion, as well asfires. From the forthwith actions taken by depot operators and the CompetentAuthority in response to the Competent Authoritys Safety Alert of 21 February 2006, responsible operators should have already undertaken suchreviews. The Competent Authority must ensure that this is the case and workwith the industry to ensure that all learning is fully shared.

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t The public health implications of potential vapour cloud explosions must beconsidered in both on-site and off-site emergency plans. Though the publichealth impact of Buncefield appears to have been minimal, this may notnecessarily have been the case under different conditions.16

t As with on-site protective systems, HSC and the Competent Authority bodiesshould satisfy themselves that legal requirements are robust enough to ensureany necessary changes to emergency plans are duly made.

79 Several separate reviews are looking at the effectiveness of the emergencyresponse to Buncefield. The emergency services, particularly the fire and policeservices, responded impressively and on a massive scale that was almost certainlyunprecedented in modern times. Inevitably there are lessons to be learned fromsuch an exceptional event. This is particularly important given the newness of thelocal, regional and national resilience arrangements tested at Buncefield. The Boardintends to return to this topic when more information is available from thosereviews. Meanwhile the Board has the following observations:

t Given the huge cost of the Buncefield incident, it is essential not to miss any ofthe lessons it has provided for emergency response. Like the response itself, thisis a multi-agency task that requires a clear lead. It will be part of the Boardsongoing work to establish a clear picture of the lead provided by centralGovernment for first responders.

t The public health impacts of Buncefield appear to have been minimal.Nevertheless, the incident has revealed the importance of prompt, useful adviceto early responders such as the Fire and Rescue Services, and to the public.There may also be scope to improve the co-ordination of sampling andmonitoring activities, particularly in the early stages of major incidents. TheBoard welcomes the establishment of a Health Protection Agency-led workinggroup aiming to establish frameworks and agreed working practices for anyfuture post-incident environmental sampling, and awaits with interest theresults of this work. The Board also welcomes the steps being taken by theHealth Protection Agency to draw to the attention of regional resilience fora inBritain the immediate lessons of Buncefield for the provision of healthprotection advice during a major incident.

t The local residential and business communities have interests to be considered,eg the maintenance of employment and support in effecting a rapid return tosocial normality. This appears to be both a regional and, on the scale ofBuncefield, a national issue. It is not clear to the Board how far emergencyplanning arrangements have taken account of this aspect in the past. TheSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government, through theGovernment Office for the East of England, recently established a task force toinvestigate options for Government support to businesses and local economiesin the period following an exceptional disaster. This initiative is very welcomeand the Board hopes swift progress will be made in this work.

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16 The low impact on public health of the Buncefield incident is an initial conclusion ofthe Health Protection Agency. Their review of the health effects of the Buncefield fire isavailable at www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel.htm.

Advice to planning authorities

80 One of the starkest issues raised by the Buncefield explosion is the location ofsites with such major hazard potential alongside neighbouring commercial andresidential development. The situation poses the fundamental planning questionthat all parties have to address quite simply, what to do about such development.

81 The Board is acutely aware of the problems that planning uncertainties cause forlocal communities, particularly those directly affected by the Buncefield incident.Decisions about rebuilding businesses near the Buncefield depot crucial to thelivelihood of those who work in those businesses and to the local economy in general hinge on decisions about rebuilding the whole of the area, including the depot itself.

82 A key element of the land use planning process for developments aroundBuncefield and many similar sites is the advice HSE provides to planning authorities.The Board, in its statement of 9 May on publishing the Third Progress Report,indicated its view that enough information had emerged at that stage to enable HSEto review as a matter of urgency the basis and standard of the advice it provides. TheBoard notes that HSE has acted on that challenge and expects to produce somepreliminary conclusions in the autumn of this year.

83 The Board recognises that this is a complex issue for which there are no simplesolutions. There is a need to balance the risks and benefits of development ajudgement made no easier by technical and scientific uncertainties. This isillustrated by the fact that HSEs advice on this site was based on a representativeworst credible scenario of a major liquid fuel pool fire. A vapour cloud explosionwas initially considered, but arising from tanker loading operations and not tankstorage. A pool fire was assessed as presenting the greater off-site hazard. TheBuncefield incident brings into question the assessment policy for many oil/fueldepot sites, and the zone setting method which it informs.

84 The Board intends to address these issues in more detail, but not before seeingthe preliminary conclusions of HSEs review. A measured approach is justified sincethe likelihood of a similar explosion remains low, and should be made lower stillby a programme of actions designed to increase the reliability of primarycontainment. In our view, the importance of reaching conclusions that areconsidered, costed, and sustainable greatly outweighs any benefit that might bederived from coming to summary judgements.

85 We will be interested to know HSEs views on the desirability and feasibility ofan approach to advise on developments around sites like Buncefield based more onconsideration of risk. Under such an approach, the likelihood of major incidents,taking into account all the measures in place against them, would play a moreexplicit part than hitherto in determining planning advice.

86 The Board has also noted the incremental development around Buncefield (andpresumably other sites).17 Given that most planning advice currently focuses onspecific developments subject to planning approval, this could mean that in thefuture, more attention should be paid to the total population at risk from a majorhazard site. The Board welcomes the Ministerial Statement laid in the House ofCommons on 15 May, which referred to cross-Government work on this issuecurrently being co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office, and to which HSE is makingan important contribution, and looks forward to the consultation withstakeholders expected later this year.

2317 The history of development within a 3 km radius of the Buncefield depot site between

1966 and 2005 is shown in Figure 5, Annex 3.

Annex 1

Terms of reference and progress

This annex sets out the eight terms of reference for the Investigation and explainsthe progress that is being made towards accomplishment of each of them.

1 To ensure the thorough investigation of the incident, the factors leading upto it, its impact both on and off site, and to establish its causation includingroot causes

The Board has published three Progress Reports from the Investigation Manager.These have revealed the main facts of the incident, but have not speculated on whycontrol of the fuel was lost. The explosion mechanism, ie the means by whichunexpectedly high overpressures were generated, is subject to significant furtherinvestigation. This may require wider expert consultation and research.

The criminal investigation is pursuing all reasonable lines of inquiry into the factsand causes of the incident to enable the Competent Authority (HSE and theEnvironment Agency) to take a view on legal proceedings.

2 To identify and transmit without delay to duty holders and otherappropriate recipients any information requiring immediate action to furthersafety and/or environmental protection in relation to storage and distributionof hydrocarbon fuels

The Competent Authority issued a Safety Alert to around 1100 COMAH dutyholders on 21 February 2006. Special attention was paid to 108 fuel depot ownersstoring COMAH quantities of fuel in Great Britain, seeking a review ofarrangements for detecting and dealing with conditions affecting containment offuel. Most duty holders responded to the alert by the Easter deadline. Meanwhile,the Competent Authority visited all 108 depots to follow up the alert. An interimreport was published on 13 June and is available atwww.hse.gov.uk/comah/alert.htm.

The Environment Agency issued further advice to its inspectors to investigatesecondary (bunding) and tertiary (drains and barriers) containment at depots inEngland and Wales in response to the Second Progress Report. The EnvironmentAgency is expected to publish a report in the summer. The Environment Agencyalso continues to monitor the effects of Buncefield on the surrounding environmentand to issue updates on its website, www.environment-agency.gov.uk. The initiativeis being handled separately for Scotland by the Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency, with joint inspections undertaken with HSE covering primary, secondaryand tertiary containment, and management systems. However, it is intended thatan overall view of the situation in Britain will be available this summer.

On 16 June investigators served two Improvement Notices on the manufacturers ofthe high-level alarm switch installed on Tank 912, having identified a potentialproblem at other sites related to the setting of the switch for normal operationsfollowing testing. This was followed up by a Safety Alert from HSE on 4 Julyalerting operators relying on such switches of the potential problem.

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The Chairman of the Buncefield Board wrote to the Chief Executive of the HealthProtection Agency on 3 July enquiring into progress with informing regional resiliencegroups of early lessons learned from Buncefield, focusing on public health issues in theimmediate aftermath of a major airborne incident.

3 To examine the Health and Safety Executives and the Environment Agencysrole in regulating the activities on this site under the COMAH Regulations,considering relevant policy guidance and intervention activity

Work is progressing steadily on both parts of the review, concerning respectivelyHSEs and the Environment Agencys prior regulatory activities at Buncefield. Thefull findings of the review will be incorporated into the Boards final report (seeterm of reference 8). Any immediate important lessons from the examination of theCompetent Authoritys prior role will be incorporated into the lessons learnedprogramme under term of reference 5.

4 To work closely with all relevant stakeholders, both to keep them informedof progress with the Investigation and to contribute relevant expertise to otherinquiries that may be established

The ongoing impact on residents and businesses of the Buncefield incident has beenreported in all three Progress Reports. The Board has maintained an active interestin releasing as much new information as possible to the community and itsrepresentatives, such as the local MP Mike Penning, to assist in understanding theevents of 11 December 2005, and to maintain public confidence that progress isbeing made with the Investigation. Residents and businesses have shownremarkable resilience in great adversity. Dacorum Borough Council in particular,but also St Albans and Hertfordshire Councils, have performed extremelyeffectively in very difficult circumstances, and have supported the Board in itsengagement with residents and businesses, as has Mike Penning MP.

The Board has also kept key Government stakeholders informed of theInvestigations progress, and has maintained its interest in developments that havetaken place since Buncefield to help manage the aftermath and support a return tonormality for residents and businesses.

The Board has engaged with all the public sector agencies involved in theemergency response to Buncefield and has met with a number of the key agencies,particularly the Category 1 (Gold) responders. This is not an issue in which theBoard has primary responsibility but, as reported in this Initial Report, the Boardis giving further consideration to emergency response and emergency preparednessissues, and will say more on this later.

The Buncefield Major Incident Investigation made presentations to two multi-agency debriefing sessions on 21 and 28 June to inform regional resilience groupsaround Britain of the response to the Buncefield incident.

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5 To make recommendations for future action to ensure the effectivemanagement and regulation of major accident risk at COMAH sites. Thisshould include consideration of offsite as well as onsite risks and considerprevention of incidents, preparations for response to incidents, and mitigationof their effects

HSE, the Environment Agency and the Health Protection Agency are contributingto this work to assist the Board to make sensible, practical and affordablerecommendations for improvements in the light of the Buncefield incident. Key workstreams are in environmental protection; land use planning; fire andexplosion mechanisms; control and instrumentation; human and organisationalfactors; health; emergency response and preparedness; and regulatory impact.

HSE has convened an industry-chaired task group that includes the EnvironmentAgency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, to consider design andoperation issues. The Board is considering how to make suitable arrangements forfurther research and modelling of explosion mechanisms in flammable vapourclouds. HSE has begun work on changes to land use planning advice and isworking closely with a Cabinet Office-led team on applying new knowledge ofrisks to society in the planning system. The Health Protection Agency is consultingkey agencies to improve public health advice and support during significantpollution events.

6 To produce an initial report for the Health and Safety Commission and theEnvironment Agency as soon as the main facts have been established. Subjectto legal considerations, this report will be made public

This element is discharged by the publication of this report.

7 To ensure that the relevant notifications are made to the EuropeanCommission

A report from the Environment Agency and HSE was made to the EuropeanCommission on 10 March. Subsequently, the Environment Agency declaredBuncefield a Major Accident To The Environment (MATTE), and the CompetentAuthority has recently reported this to the European Commission.

8 To make the final report public

The timing for the publication of the final report remains uncertain and is ofcourse linked to progress on the main terms of reference and to any decision onany criminal proceedings that might be considered. The possibilities include afurther interim report or reports; decisions must necessarily depend on the timingof developments and consideration of the public interest.

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Annex 2

Members of the independent Board

The Rt. Hon. Lord Newton of Braintree has been a life peer since 1997 afterspending 23 years as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Braintree, Essex.From 1982 to 1988 he held ministerial positions at the Department of Health andSocial Security. In 1988 he joined the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy ofLancaster and Minister at the DTI. He then held the post of Secretary of State forSocial Security from 1989 to 1992 when he was appointed Leader of the House ofCommons, which he held until 1997. In 2002 he chaired the Committee thatreviewed the operation of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Professor Dougal Drysdale is one of the leading international authorities in FireSafety Engineering. He was the Chairman of the International Association of FireSafety Science until September 2005 and is currently the editor of the leadingscientific journal in the field, Fire Safety Journal. His wide range of researchinterests includes the ignition characteristics of combustible materials, flame spreadand various aspects of fire dynamics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh and a Fellow of both the Institution of Fire Engineers and the Society ofFire Protection Engineers.

Dr Peter Baxter is a Consultant Physician in Occupational and EnvironmentalMedicine at Cambridge University and Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. In thepast he has advised the Government on the impacts on public health relating to airquality standards, major chemical incidents, natural disasters and climate change.

Taf Powell is Director of HSEs Offshore Division. He graduated in Geology andChemistry from Nottingham University. His oil field career has been split betweenworking in the UK and abroad in offshore exploration and development andregulation of the sector in licensing, well operations, policy and safety regulation.In 1991 he joined HSEs Offshore Division from BP and started work to developthe new offshore regulatory framework, one of Lord Cullens recommendationsfollowing his inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster. As HSEs Operations Manager,based in Aberdeen, he then led inspection teams and well engineering specialistsresponsible for enforcing the new regulations until 2000 when he took up hiscurrent role.

Dr Paul Leinster is Director of Operations at the Environment Agency. Up untilMarch 2004 he was the Director of Environmental Protection, having joined theAgency in 1998. Prior to this he was the Director of Environmental Services withSmithKline Beecham. Previous employers also include BP International, ScheringAgrochemicals and the consultancy firm Thomson-MTS where he was ManagingDirector. Paul has a degree in Chemistry, a PhD in Environmental Engineeringfrom Imperial College and an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.Paul has worked for 30 years in the health and safety and environmental field.

David Ashton is Director of HSEs Field Operations North-West and HeadquartersDivision. He joined HSE in 1977 as an inspector in the west of Scotland where he dealtwith a wide range of manufacturing and service industries, including construction,engineering and the health services. In 1986 he joined Field Operations HQ to dealwith machinery safety. He then held the post of Principal Inspector of manufacturing inPreston for two years, before being appointed as a management systems auditor toexamine offshore safety cases in the newly formed Offshore Division. In 1993 hebecame Head of HSEs Accident Prevention Advisory Unit, looking at the managementof health and safety in organisations. Between 1998 and 2003 David was HSEsDirector of Personnel, before being appointed to his current position.

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Annex3

Planning history of Buncefield site and neighbouring developments

1 Planning permission was granted in 1966 to Shell-Mex and BP Limited, RegentOil Co Limited, Mobil Oil Co Limited, and Petrofina (GB) Limited to develop 91acres of land at Buncefield for the construction of a storage and distribution depotfor petroleum products. St Albans Rural District Council initially refused theapplication on the grounds that it was an inappropriate development in the GreenBelt and would have a detrimental effect on the amenity of the locality. On appeal,the Minister of Housing and Local Government granted permission subject to anumber of conditions relating to design of the site, tree planting and restrictions onthe size of office premises.

2 At the time that the terminal was built in 1968, the site was well screened byhedges and trees, but there were about nine dwellings on the periphery of the siteto the north whose amenities were affected by the site, and a farm to the south.One of the nine dwellings to the north was converted in 2000 to create fiveseparate properties. Since 1968 there has been general encroachment anddevelopment of adjacent land. This can be seen on the map in Figure 5. Themajority of this building development took place during the period from the mid1960s to the early 1980s, comprising the construction or redevelopment ofresidential properties and a number of schools and industrial premises to the westof the site, all of which fell within a 3 km radius as shown on the map. Between1990 and 2006, a few additional industrial premises were built around the site.

3 Dacorum Borough Council is the principal planning authority for the site, buta small section to the north of Cherry Tree Lane falls to St Albans District Council.

4 The local planning authority decides whether developments can go ahead. Butarrangements have existed since 1972 for local planning authorities to obtainconsultee advice from HSE and its predecessors about the safety implications fordevelopments from risks associated with major hazards. Between 1991 and 2005,28 applications were passed to HSE for advice relating to a variety of commercialor residential developments around the Buncefield site. HSE advised against fourof these proposals and advised that seven others could be allowed subject tocertain conditions. As far as is known, the local authority followed HSEs advicein these cases.

5 In addition to these specific developments on which HSE was a statutoryconsultee, HSE is from time to time consulted on other matters. For example, HSEwas consulted on four local structure plan revisions.

6 The complex began operations in 1968 after a pipeline was constructed to linktwo Shell refineries at Stanlow at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Shell Haven onthe Thames Estuary at Stanford-le-Hope in Thurrock. The depot operatedoriginally under licence given under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Acts 1928 and1936. The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990 and subsequent statutoryprovisions, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 1992 (PHSRegulations) and later the Planning (Control of Major Accident Hazards)Regulations 1999 introduced new procedures for consent to be sought from thehazardous substances authority to store hazardous substances.

28

7 The consent identifies the hazardous substances and their location on site anddefines certain conditions of use such as maximum size, temperature and pressureof storage vessels. Figure 6 contains some details of consents obtained for theBuncefield depot. The consents for Shell UK Oil Limited have been included inthis table as they have not been revoked, although Shell no longer operates fromthis site.

HSEs role in land use planning

8 HSEs specific role in land use planning is twofold:

t Under the PHS Regulations, the presence of hazardous chemicals abovespecified threshold quantities requires consent from the local hazardoussubstances authority, which is usually also the local planning authority. HSE isa statutory consultee on all hazardous substances consent applications. Its roleis to consider the hazards and risks which would be presented by thehazardous substance(s) to people in the vicinity, and on the basis of this toadvise the hazardous substances authority whether or not consent should begranted. In advising on consent, HSE may specify conditions that should beimposed by the hazardous substances authority, over and above compliancewith statutory health and safety requirements, to limit risks to the public (eglimiting which substances can be stored on site, or requiring tanker deliveryrather than on-site storage). Hazardous substances authorities should notifyHSE of the outcome of all applications for consent, and where consent hasbeen granted should supply copies of the site plans and conditions.

t HSE uses the information contained in consent applications to establish aconsultation distance around the installation. This usually comprises threezones or risk contour areas. The consultation distance is based on themaximum quantity of hazardous substance(s) that the site is entitled to haveunder its consent. HSE notifies the local planning authorities of allconsultation distances in their areas. The General Development ProcedureOrder 1995 requires the local planning authority to consult HSE about certainproposed developments (essentially those that would result in an increase inpopulation) within any consultation distance. HSE advises the local planningauthority on the nature and severity of the risks presented by the installation topeople in the surrounding area so that those risks are given due weight by thelocal planning authority when making its decision. Taking account of the risks,HSE will advise against the proposed development or simply note that it doesnot advise against it.

9 HSEs approach to land use planning is set out in more detail in Annex 2 ofthe first Progress Report. Some of this process is now being devolved to certainlocal planning authorities.

10 The consultation distance represents the furthest distance at which HSE wishesto be consulted about developments near hazardous installations/major accidenthazard pipelines. This does not mean that there is no risk beyond the consultationdistance, just that the predicted risks are sufficiently low that they need not be partof a planning decision.

11 Within the consultation distance, HSE undertakes an assessment of the hazardsand risks from the installation and produces a map with three contoursrepresenting defined levels of harm or risk which any individual at that contourwould be subject to, based on information relating to the hazardous substancesconsent. The harm or risk to an individual is greater the closer to the installation.

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The contours form three zones, with the outer contour defining the consultationdistance around major hazard sites. The local authority consults HSE on relevantproposed developments within this consultation distance.

12 When a planning application is received, HSE or the local planning authorityfirst identifies in which of the three zones the proposed development is located.Secondly, the proposed development is classified into one of four sensitivity levels.The main factors that determine these levels are the number of people at thedevelopment, their sensitivity (vulnerable populations such as children, old people)and the intensity of the development. With these two factors known, a simpledecision matrix is used to give a clear Advise Against or Do not Advise Againstresponse to the local planning authority, as shown below:

13 More comprehensive guidance on the allocation of sensitivity levels is given onthe Planning Advice for Developments near Hazardous Installations website(www.hse.gov.uk/landuseplanning/padhi.pdf).

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Consultation distance

Inner zone

Outer zone

Middle zone

COMAH site

Figure 3 Consultationdistance and zones

Figure 4 Land useplanning sensitivity levels

and decision matrix

Level of sensitivity Development in Development in Development ininner zone middle zone outer zone

1 DAA DAA DAA2 AA DAA DAA3 AA AA DAA4 AA AA AA

Sensitivity level 1 Example FactoriesSensitivity level 2 Example HousesSensitivity level 3 Example Vunerable members of society eg primary

schools, old peoples homesSensitivity level 4 Example Football ground/large hospital

DAA means Do not Advise Against the developmentAA means Advise Against the development

History of the consultation distance around the Buncefield site

14 HSE has had arrangements with local planning authorities for consultationaround developments in the vicinity of major hazards since the early 1970s,although it was not until the implementation of the Notification of InstallationsHandling Hazardous Substances Regulations 1982 (NIHHS Regulations) in 1983that HSE first received notification from Shell Mex and BP of the terminal as amajor hazard. A generic non-site specific consultation distance of 250 m from theboundary of the site was set for consultation purposes and the relevant localplanning authority was notified. At that time it was customary to issue a genericconsultation distance without performing a site-specific assessment. Thisconsultation distance was based upon the assumption that the main hazard wasfrom thermal radiation following a major fire within the bund.

15 In 1992 the site expanded and Mobil and Shell sent another notification andapplication for consent to store certain amounts of flammable material. Theexisting consultation distance was maintained at a generic 250 m from the siteboundary. There are no records of the technical assessments that were performedwhen the local planning authority sought advice on developments within thevicinity of the site, but early assessments were based then, as now, upon a pool firefollowing loss of containment of a substantial quantity of flammable liquid.However, for tanks that were bunded there was a continuing assumption that anysubsequent fire would be within the confines of the bund.

16 In 1996 a site-specific reassessment was performed based upon consentedamounts of flammable material, and the consultation distance was reduced from250 m to 190 m. The original 250 m was set in the early days of HSE giving landuse planning advice, to ensure that all developments that might be advised againstwould be subject to consultation. By 1996, technical policy and methodology hadbeen reviewed. In addition, three-zone maps were now being produced so thatdevelopment control advice could be given more quickly and efficiently. The newpolicy assumed that the bund would not be able to contain the full contents of atank following a sudden, catastrophic failure. It was assumed that the bundwould be overtopped and the resulting pool fire would extend beyond theconfines of the bund.

17 In July 2001 another consultation distance was calculated due to an extensivereassessment of the hazards from the site following the submission of a batch ofnew consent applications from the oil companies. The regulations requiringconsent to store flammable substances were changed in 1999 to include additionalflammable materials. The consultation distance was reduced from 190 m to 185 m.This was unchanged following a further consent application on 8 July 2005 fromBP. The presence of the additional material did not alter the main basis of thecalculation which assumed the worst-case event was the catastrophic failure of thelargest tank containing gasoline. The consultation distance was reduced slightlyowing to a slight change to the inputs in the model used to perform thecalculations. See Figure 7 for a representative plan of the site showing theconsultation distance since July 2001.

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Some details of hazardous substances consents issued for theBuncefield oil storage and transfer depot

Operator Hazardous Substances Consent applications

Texaco Limited 19 September 1983*: 10 571 tonnes motor spirit

Mobil Oil Co Limited 8 November 1983*: 17 650 tonnes petrol

Hertfordshire Oil 30 November 1992: 34 020 tonnes motor spiritStorage Limited

18 October 1999: 15 314 tonnes kerosene

BP Oil UK Limited 18 November 1992: 17 650 tonnes gasoline in name of Mobil Oil Co Limited

26 October 1999: 15 080 tonnes automotive petrol and otherpetroleum spi